The British Foreign Service And The American Civil War

During the American Civil War, the British legation and consuls experienced strained relations with both the Union and the Confederacy, to varying degrees and with different results. Southern consuls were cut off from the legation in Washington, D.C., and confronted their problems for the most part without direction from superiors. Consuls in the North sought assistance from the British foreign minister and followed the procedures he established. Diplomatic relations with Great Britain eased tensions in the North; the British consuls in the South were expelled in 1863. Eugene H. Berwanger uses archival sources in both Britain and the United States as a basis for his reevaluation of consular attitudes. Because much of this material was not available to earlier historians of British-American diplo-macy, the author expands upon their conclusions and suggests reinterpreta-tions in light of the new information. The first comprehensive investigation of Anglo-American relations during the Civil War, The British Foreign Service and the American Civil War will interest scholars of American history and diplomatic relations.

This fascinating book discusses the role of the United Kingdom during the American Civil War. Officially, the UK stayed neutral throughout the war. They also legally recognised the belligerent status of the Confederate States of America (CSA), though never recognising it as a nation. Neither did the UK sign a treaty with it nor ever exchanged ambassadors. Over 90 percent of Confederate trade with Britain ended, causing a severe shortage of cotton. Private British blockade runners sent munitions and luxuries to Confederate ports in return for cotton and tobacco. Public opinion was divided over the war, with support for the Confederacy tending to emanate from the upper class while the middle and lower classes mostly favored the Union.

The diplomatic dispatches included in this volume offer an insight into contemporary Anglo-American relations. The period covered witnessed the election of Abraham Lincoln, the secession crisis, the formation of the Confederacy and the first military confrontations of the war.

Focuses on works that expand the parameters of US foreign relations. This work also focuses on such areas as identity formation and projection, borderlands studies, comparative history, and cultural transfer. It offers a provocative reinterpretation of Civil War - era diplomacy.

Previous accounts of the British Foreign Office have left the impression that the diplomatic service was an insignificant appendage of the Foreign Office. Jones's study redresses the balance, demonstrating that the diplomatic service was an equal if not senior partner with the Foreign Office in the execution of British foreign policy. After a brief introduction to the history of diplomacy, Jones follows the changes wrought in the service by the intense political and social pressures of the nineteenth century. Against the background of the growth of the Victorian Civil Service and the emergence of Great Britain as a world power in the age of the Pax Britannica, Jones traces the demise of the family embassy, and of a diplomacy deeply rooted in patronage, and the corresponding development of the professional, bureaucratic elite of the Edwardian era. In case studies of the Near Eastern crisis of 1839-41, the Mason Sliddell Affair of the American Civil War, and the Dogger Bank Crisis of 1904, the volume sets forth the working environment of an embassy, both before and after the communications revolution following upon the introduction of the telegraph. Also examined are the social structures of the unreformed diplomatic service and the later, professional service. The volume will be of interest to historians of diplomacy and foreign policy, to political scientists, and to students of social change.

Previous accounts of the British Foreign Office have left the impression that the diplomatic service was an insignificant appendage of the Foreign Office. Jones's study redresses the balance, demonstrating that the diplomatic service was an equal if not senior partner with the Foreign Office in the execution of British foreign policy. After a brief introduction to the history of diplomacy, Jones follows the changes wrought in the service by the intense political and social pressures of the nineteenth century. Against the background of the growth of the Victorian Civil Service and the emergence of Great Britain as a world power in the age of the Pax Britannica, Jones traces the demise of the family embassy, and of a diplomacy deeply rooted in patronage, and the corresponding development of the professional, bureaucratic elite of the Edwardian era. In case studies of the Near Eastern crisis of 1839-41, the Mason Sliddell Affair of the American Civil War, and the Dogger Bank Crisis of 1904, the volume sets forth the working environment of an embassy, both before and after the communications revolution following upon the introduction of the telegraph. Also examined are the social structures of the unreformed diplomatic service and the later, professional service. The volume will be of interest to historians of diplomacy and foreign policy, to political scientists, and to students of social change.

The British ambassador in Washington during the US Civil War and ambassador in Paris before and after the Franco-Prussian war, Lord Lyons (1817-1887) was one of the most important diplomats of the Victorian period. Although frequently featured in histories of the United States and Europe in the second half of the nineteenth century, and in discussions and analyses of British foreign policy, he has remained an ill-defined figure. In Lord Lyons: A Diplomat in an Age of Nationalism and War, Brian Jenkins explains the man and examines his career. Based on a staggering study of primary sources, he presents a convincing portrait of a subject who rarely revealed himself personally. Though he avoided publicity, Lyons came to be regarded as his nation's premier diplomat as his career took him to the heart of the great international issues and crises of his generation. As minister to the United States he played a vital role in preserving Anglo-American peace and was a powerful voice opposing Anglo-French intervention in the Civil War. While ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, he helped to prevent French control of the Suez Canal then under construction. In France, he maintained an amiable and constructive relationship with a bitter nation struggling to reorganize itself and its constitution after the Franco-Prussian War. For many historians Lord Lyons has been difficult to ignore but hard to admire. In rescuing him as a truly important historical figure, Jenkins details for the first time the personal and public strategies Lyons employed through decades of exemplary diplomatic service on both sides of the Atlantic.

*Includes pictures *Includes accounts of the Trent Affair written by British and Northern politicians, as well as participants *Includes a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents "Mr. Seward ... is exerting himself to provoke a quarrel with all Europe, in that spirit of senseless egotism which induces the Americans, with their dwarf fleet and shapeless mass of incoherent squads which they call an army, to fancy themselves the equal of France by land and Great Britain by sea." - The London Chronicle In November 1861, the American Civil War was still a relatively young conflict, and both sides were still jockeying for the upper hand. The Confederates had won the First Battle of Bull Run in July, and there had not been any major battles in the West, but the Union had also pushed the Confederates out of West Virginia and George McClellan was about to organize the Army of the Potomac for an offensive against Richmond. Months before then, Confederate President Jefferson Davis had sent out diplomatic agents to Europe in attempts to win recognition among major European powers, and to place even further pressure on the status quo, Southern merchants actually refused to export cotton, hoping the sheer weight of economics would compel them to help. As historian Charles Hubbard pointed out, "Davis left foreign policy to others in government and, rather than developing an aggressive diplomatic effort, tended to expect events to accomplish diplomatic objectives. The new president was committed to the notion that cotton would secure recognition and legitimacy from the powers of Europe. One of the Confederacy's strongest hopes at the time was the belief that the British, fearing a devastating impact on their textile mills, would recognize the Confederate States and break the Union blockade. The men Davis selected as secretary of state and emissaries to Europe were chosen for political and personal reasons - not for their diplomatic potential. This was due, in part, to the belief that cotton could accomplish the Confederate objectives with little help from Confederate diplomats." As it turned out, the Confederates were almost delivered a master stroke of good fortune when the USS San Jacinto seized the RMS Trent to pull two Southern diplomats, James Mason and John Slidell, off the British boat as contraband of war, sparking an international crisis that infuriated the British and put the North in hot water. Although the British furor provoked the Northern public and inflamed tensions, Union leaders sought to defuse the crisis as Britain demanded the release of the diplomats and a formal apology. For several tense weeks, both sides were on high alert, and the British bolstered their armed forces in the region (including in Canada), but the crisis was eventually resolved with the release of the two Confederates and a public disavowal of the USS San Jacinto's actions. Britain did not receive a formal apology, and the Confederate diplomats eventually made their way across the Atlantic to push for recognition, but they would ultimately fail in the goal, dealing a considerable blow to the South's chances. The Trent Affair chronicles the Civil War's most famous diplomatic crisis and analyzes its effects. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Trent Affair like never before, in no time at all.